Italian earthquake
Monday, April 6, 2009 3:14:11 PM
According to USGS the epicentre was at 42.423°N, 13.395°E. The depth was only about 10 km. Shallow earthquakes are usually the most damaging.
Carved up by two major fault lines, Italy has gained a reputation as one of the most earthquake prone countries in Europe. The Eurasian and African plates meet along a line which runs through North Africa and crosses the Mediterranean near southern Italy and Greece. Africa is moving northward at about 2 cm a year. As a result two main cracks - or fault lines - cut across the Italian peninsula, one running north-south along the spine of the Apennine mountains (where Aquila is situated) and another crossing east-west south of Rome and north of Naples. The city of L’Aquila (founded in 1245) is thus located in a tectonic basin bounded to the north by a northwest–southeast-trending active normal fault. (The earthquake was in fact a shallow normal-faulting event). The city sits in a valley in the central Apennines north of Rome and is built on a basin of sediments which has attracted geological interest in the past. It was hit by earthquakes repeatedly in its history including one in 1703 which flattened the centre.
Here are a few links to the first media reports from the disaster.
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7985958.stm
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7984867.stm
• http://www.gdacs.org/reports.asp?eventType=EQ&ID=54774&system=asgard&location=ITA&alertlevel=Green&glide_no=
• http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Strong_6.7_magnitude_quake_strikes_Italy_Rome_fire_service_999.html
• http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-italy-quake7-2009apr07,0,1185599.story
• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/5114636/LAquila-earthquake-damaged-ancient-baths-in-Rome.html
• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/5114139/Italian-earthquake-experts-warnings-were-dismissed-as-scaremongering.html
In Danish:
• http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Udland/2009/04/06/110312.htm?nyhedsbrev
• http://ing.dk/artikel/97716-usaedvanlig-forklaring-bag-jordskaelv-mikroplader-blev-revet-fra-hinanden
In Dutch
• http://www.knack.be/nieuws/europa/aardbeving-in-italie--zeker-40-doden/site72-section25-article31778.html
In German:
• http://www.zeit.de/online/2009/15/bg-erdbeben
And a few links to fellow bloggers’ posts so far about the event:
* http://amphibol.blogspot.com/2009/04/erdbeben-in-italien.html
* http://ontario-geofish.blogspot.com/2009/04/large-earthquake-hits-italy.html
* http://daveslandslideblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/first-take-on-italy-earthquake.html
* http://geology.about.com/b/2009/04/06/italy-struck-by-m-63-quake.htm
* http://www.goodschist.com/2009/04/06/manitude-63-earthquake-in-laquila-italy/
* http://seismo.berkeley.edu/blogs/seismoblog.php/2009/04/06/title-2
* http://aldopiombino.blogspot.com/2009/04/il-terremoto-dellaquila-tra-annunci.html
more will no doubt follow.







